A number of retaining walls have been known in the prior art. Examples of such retaining wall structures are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,123,881 and 4,324,508.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,881, discloses a wall structure assembled from horizontal courses of T-shaped building blocks. The blocks in the first course are tied together using U-shaped clips. As the wall increases in height, tie rods are inserted vertically through the courses of blocks to tie the blocks in adjacent courses together.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,508, coinvented by William K. Hilfiker, one of the coinventors herein, teaches a retaining and reinforcement system using welded wire grid mats that are secured to precast elongate panels disposed at the face of an earthen formation. The mats reinforce the earthen formation against slippage. The panels are provided with a plurality of holes at the upper and lower surfaces through which pin members are vertically passed. The mats are folded over at their distal ends in the shape of loops through which rods are horizontally passed. The vertical pins are extended behind the horizontal rods to secure the mats to the precast elongate panels.